Blood and Cocoa
by Claws McDonald
Summary: Hollstein being fluffy, angsty or domestical. YouTube webseries Carmilla.
1. My Sunshine

Darkness.

The Void.

An infinite limbo.

Carmilla looked all around herself, mist and blackness trying to swallow her up. Her limbs felt as if they had lead poured into them. Her throat was dry and she was starving; her eyes were still damp from the tears she had shed in the final battle.

But she felt at peace. It was too peaceful to be real. She knew that she could stay there if she wanted to, no more "Mother", no more being a minion, no more pain...

_No more Laura..._

"Mircalla...Mircalla, is that you?"

For a split-second, she thought her heart could start beating again any moment. The sound of that sweet voice she hadn't heard in almost century and a half had her senses on full attention. If she could just see her one more time...

"Elle! Where are you? Elle, please..."

"Turn around, sunshine."

Carmilla did as asked and clenched her hands into fists as she faced her long-lost love. The young provincial girl with the small mole on her face and hair that made her want to bury herself into it. She smiled at her as if nothing had ever gone between them, no horrible separation; as though they had only seen each other not so long ago. Alas, the vampire couldn't help but smile back.

"You know I hated that name, cupcake."

"It was the only name I ever called you..."

"I go by Carmilla now. Has a better ring to it, don't you think so?"

Elle giggled into her hand and stepped forward, taking her old lover's hands into her own. "You did wonderful." She inspected her up and down. "Not a single scratch on you, I can see."

"Did I?" Carmilla inspected herself and smirked. "Harming myself in a battle like that would not have been as embarrassing as getting caught by a group of imbeciles." She smiled at the disapproving look she got from Elle.

"Imbeciles? Is that how you call those girls who you helped? If I was to give them a name, I would call them by what they are: brave. As well as you."

Carmilla raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Brave? How so?"

Elle wouldn't stop smiling. "You stood up to that Mother of yours. Mircalla...I had been trying to save those poor girls from her wicked ritual for decades". A small tremble in those lips."...and as well as you, I failed time and time again. But you finally knew it was time to end with her."

Carmilla couldn't understand I thing Elle was talking about. All that talk about standing up against Mother and being brave for once and for all sounded too familiar to her. Vampires were not the heroes in the story, they were the bad guys. No one would believe or hope in someone like her to save the day. It was as though she was talking to...

"That girl."

Carmilla got thrown out of her train of thought. "Who?"

"You know well who I am talking about, Calla. That girl you did all these for: Laura".

For the first time in her undead life, Carmilla thought her face was as red as she felt it. The lack of blood on her cheeks was not what made Elle laugh, but the way Carmilla had just hunched over herself did.

"She's a nice girl...she'll be alright now."

"Will she, sunshine?"

There was no pushing in her voice, how could it if she was one of the sweetest people she had met in her existence. "Yes. She won't have to deal with vampires and supernatural things anymore." She looked down at her hands, still intertwined with Elle's, and sniffed.

"Sunshine...you must go back to her."

"What?" She snapped her head up and saw the sadness in Elle's eyes, but also a spark of understanding. "Elle...we can be together now."

Elle shook her head and giggled softly. "Sunshine...you have to go on without me".

Carmilla could feel the adrenaline starting to pump through her body as she braced herself for the worst. "No, no, no, Elle...I can't lose you."

"And Laura cannot bear the same as you. I know you love her and that that flame inside of you will not stop growing for her. I was once the maid your unbeating heart belonged to. But someone else has stolen it now. Farewell, Mircalla. May our paths cross again in another life."

Carmilla tried her best to get a grip on Elle's wrists as she started to disappear in front of her. Hands going through her pale flesh as if they were nothing but air.

"I will live for you, Elle. I promise!"

"Live not for me, but for your own sunshine."

Carmilla chocked back a sob and squinted her eyes. "What does that mean?"

Elle's smile was only a ghost and a thin line now. "You were the brightest light in my life, I believe she is yours now."

"Oh, you were always a helpless romantic, Elle."

"Aren't we all?"

* * *

"-dead! Don't be dead!"

_Laura?_

Carmilla let the scarlet liquid run down her throat as she recovered consciousness. Her hunger was satisfied, at least for a while, as she tried to make out where she was. Her hands touched something soft as she took a seat. A bed perhaps. Her vision finally settled and she saw Danny, Perry and Laura, all looking at her as if she had returned from the dead.

_Have I? Not so much of a surprise now._

A pair of arms wrapped her in a clumsy hug and she couldn't help but smile lightly. She could feel Laura's hair trying to get into her face and took a deep breath of it before she pulled away.

"Hey."

_Good riddance, she's here. I'm here. With her._

"Hey."

Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the door closing. She could feel herself standing up and getting too close to Laura. Her tiny talkative roommate had her heart pounding a hundred miles per hour as she leaned in. And then lips were touching and sparks were flying.

The gentle rubbing stopped and the vampire smiled with such a smitten face that the small girl couldn't help but giggle. The undead girl had never felt so alive in her three centuries of life. She kissed her love one more time before buring her face in that hair of hers.

_She's my sunshine, alright._


	2. Bulletholes and Bandaids

**I had these Taylor Swift lyrics in mind and, well, this was the result.**

_"Bandaids don't fix bulletholes." -Bad Blood_

_Yet they try._

* * *

"My girl, my precious diamond...why would you even like to have a filthy human next to you. You know Maman is here for anything."

Mother paced in front of Mircalla, her piercing eyes not leaving her face, unblinking. She couldn't move. Not under that cold gaze that chilled her all the way to her unbeating heart.

"How could you have left me for a puny, insignificant-"

"Stop it".

The room felt tense all over, not even the air dared move in the stone walls. Mircalla's gaze dropped as soon as she saw Mother coming towards her. Not even the devil would dare defy a woman as powerful as she was. The piercing eyes turned into daggers that dug deep into her skull. And the soft, pale hands became claws. Mircalla felt her face get pulled up by Mother, making her look at Maman's frown.

She could see her slapping her across the room, draining her right then and there. There were a million ways to end her in the spot.

But she smiled with complete wickedness and caressed her cheek. It felt like thorns scraping against her face.

"Is that so? Are you sure about that, Mircalla?"

The grip on her was tighter. And she hesitated a second too long.

"I'll give you time to change your mind, then".

* * *

_Boom. **THUMP**. Boom_

The explosions behind her grew fainter. She ran away from the giant collision of men and machines. Had it not been for them, she would have never escaped that bloody, excuse the pun, coffin.

She was free at last.

No more darkness. No more cramped espaces and timelessness. No more Maman.

It would take her years, decades, hell maybe even centuries tofind her again. She wouldn't think of being next to her any longer. She would travel, far and wide on her own throughout the world. She would live for herself.

And for Ell.

* * *

The chase went on. Her legs had started to ache after the long run she had been enduring. And it didn't help that she hadn't been able to feed in the last week. They were right on her heels, she had no chance of losing them any time now. She would definitely get caught.

Mircalla once knew that life wasn't fair. She had learned that the night someone had decided to murder her. Yet, she knew life praised you back in the little way it could. She had gained a mother and many brothers and sisters after coming back to life. She had traveled the world and celebrated many nights waltzing under the moonlight. But she also saw many suffer because of her actions. Many families torned apart and grieving for their daughters and wards.

But this was on the bordering line of karma and unfairness.

Ten years. That's all she had gotten of freedom after leaving the damn coffin. Ten years of traveling, learning and knowing the new 20th century. Ten years without having to follow orders. Oh, those delightful years. They would grow longer if she was successful in escaping her situation.

"Sorry, _mademoiselle, but do I know you from somewhere?"_ Of course he did, the little imbecile. What an idiot she had been, not recognizing his voice in an instant after he had talked. And she had turned to him. His sickening smile and way of moving like a disgusting lizard were evident. She hated him for being the perfect seductor, the all-well-known Momma's Boy. If she had had the strenght she would have knocked him all the way to the other side of France.

She turned a corner and slipped into the crowd, being able to slow her pace for a bit. Her scent would mix around those she was with and it would give her some time to think of a strategy. Mircalla entered a café on her way, deciding she was safe for a while . She sitted herself at the farthest table she could find and recovered her energy. She leaned back on her chair and sighed, relieved, and closed her eyes. _Stupid William. I hope he gets staked one of these-_

"Hello, sweetheart. Ready to order already?"

Mircalla felt her chest contract. Her lips twitched as she tried to understand who was talking to her. Please don't be her, please don't be her, pleasedon'tbe-

"How a great way to greet your mother. May I sit?"

She heard the chair in front of her move back and felt the eyes of Maman on her. She couldnt' quite open her eyes. Mircalla wished that when she opened them, she would still be lying on her bed. Moments passed and she jumped when the table jumped in front of her. She snapped her eyes open.

Maman had tears on her face. Her eyes didn't leave Mircalla's face. Her hands were pressing on the flat surface of the table and it was seconds away from denting. Her frame was tense, but not from anger. Was it...

"I missed you so, Mircalla."

She wasn't expecting that, for sure. Maman laid back and regained her composure.

"I went to find you but...the coffin wasn't there and I had feared the worst. I was grieving all these years for you and then Will...He is not as useless as you remember him. Oh my dear darling, my diamond girl."

Mircalla felt Maman's arms around her. And she couldn't help but return the hug. It wasn't warm, maybe because she was so in shock, but she melted into it. Could she go back with her? After what had happened? Had Maman finally stopped her old ways? She would like to find out all about it if-no when- they were able to talk. Maybe they would go back to the voyages and the feasts and being happy.

"Come, child. We have so much to do and you have so much to tell me, I am sure."

Mircalla managed a small smile.

After all, mother knew best, didn't she?

* * *

"Carmilla! Carm, where are you? It's your turn to do laundry, and this time I am in no way letting you-Carm?"

Laura had entered her dorm to remind-or better to make- her rommate do her chores. Instead, she found herself trying to identify a noise that was coming...from Carm's bed? No, it was from under the bed. _Odd_.

After dealing with many supernatural phenomena at Silas, she prepared herself. Laura grabbed the nearest potential weapon to her and got into a defense stance. A hammer would do, and her Krav Maga skills were still fresh. She cleared her throat and spoke. "Come out...fiend...or you'll have to face me and my...Mjölnir."

"Laura?"

Laura's heart skipped a beat as she recognized the broken voice. She threw the hammer on her bed and dropped to the floor on her stomach. Under the bed laid a girl with cat eyes and a distinctive yellow pillow. She was shaking and the veins on her knuckles showed from how hard she grasped the pillow.

Laura couldn't help but stare at her. She looked for any injuries and made a slow approach towards her. With her hand, she put Carmilla's bangs away from her face. It was hot and wet.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Carmilla shook her head and buried it into Laura's pillow. She could almost laugh at the image. One of the bravest people she had ever met needed her pillow to get their strenght back. She didn't mind at all.

Careful not to bump her head on the bed, Laura slid herself next to Carmilla. She rested her head on her arms and looked at her for a long time as she calmed down. After a little hesitation, Laura laced their hands together and squeezed Carmilla's hand. This seemed to have a positive effect. Laura knew it was okay to continue with her "Comforting Plan for the Punk Undead". She ran her other hand through Carm's hair and smiled when she heard purring after a while. _So much for a heartless, souless, all-powerful being. She's a legit kitty._

They stayed that way until Carmilla was able to unbury her face from the pillow. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I tried to sleep but I couldn't." She whispered.

Laura gave her a sorrowful smile. "It's her, isn't it?" She didn't even need an answer. She knew how bad the nightmares had been for Carm after they had defeated her 'mother'. Carm wouldn't get enough sleep in the day and she would take long walks at night. And try as she may, the uneasiness would not go away.

"She did many wrong things, Laura...and I followed her thoughout them. I shouldn't deserve to be happy."

"Oh, you sound just like the philosophy major you are, Carm." Laura smiled at the glare the vampire threw at her. "You never wanted to do those things. You just thought about journeys and balls and love and-" . Her eyes grew wide as she stopped at the beginning of a ramble. And began an apology ramble.

"Not exactly that, but, y'know. Anything but death and rituals and sacrificing virgins for eternal youth and-".

"Cupcake".

"-maybe we shouldn't put it that way, maybe in a more philosophical, life-changing way-"

"Laura".

"-if that is you get what I'm trying to say-"

"Laura!"

She stopped altogether as she felt a hand on her neck and salty lips on her own. _She should shut me up more times_.

Carmilla smiled and let out a breathy laugh. "You are such a rambler, cutie."

Laura giggled and looked down between them. "Sorry...well, I'm not that sorry."

Carmilla moved her closer to herself and hummed in agreement. "I can bet. Hey."

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Dunno. But thank you."

"You're welcome, Carm."

* * *

**I am trash. We are all trash. **


	3. Midnight Sweetness

**Based on the prompt: "Imagine your OTP waking up at the same time for a midnight snack and Person B scares Person A on accident" but then it got half angsty and then half leading into smut.**

* * *

Quite.

Not a thing disturbed the house in the dead of the night.

Little Laura Hollis slept in her bed, in her dad's house, her home. After all the paranormal things she had dealt with, this was nice. Not the most phenomenal thing in the world, but it was the world to her. She could take refuge in mundane things like this. Hugging her dad, making cocoa, waving to the neighbor next door. It was cozy and it was home.

And yet.

_grrruuumblre._

Her favourite thing were midnight snacks.

The sweet sort.

Laura got out of bed in the slowest way possible she could to preserve some heat. She loved sweets of all sorts at all hours. But the bed was comfortable enough to stay there and think of sweets later. Still, her dad had done some amazing cookies and she was not missing on those right now.

She yawned and stretched and made her way downstairs. All the way to the kitchen, she knew she had forgotten something. Though she could not, for the life of her, remember what it was. It was midnight and she was craving cookies, she had no time to remember things.

As she got to the kitchen's door, she heard a distant growling noise. A noise that, whoa, sounded so scary that it got her wide awake in an instant. She reached for anything she could use to fight back. And muttered under her breath when she found nothing. Perfect.

She was to her own wits right now. Well, not exactly, she could call out to her dad and he would come down with a bat or a hammer. Still, that would mean whoever was at the kitchen could catch her or match her Krav Maga. She could not risk that, either.

Just then, she felt someone pull her into the small room that was the kitchen. A hand covered her mouth before she could scream. Her heart was beating fast and her breathing was out of control. But she felt it stop altogether when a pair of known lips traced kisses along her neck. Were it not for her knowledge of those lips, she would have screamed. Instead, she spun around and slapped the arm of her night-walking, punk-rock roommate.

The only thing that Laura was able to see in the dark were two yellow glowing eyes. And a toothy grin that was only reserved for her and her alone. Laura could almost brush off the scare of her life. Clue word: almost.

"What happened, cupcake? Now, I know that curiosity killed the cat, I've never heard of the cat killing-"

"Keep your witticism out of this conversation, would you? You scared the living out of me, Carm!" Laura hissed. "I was about to call my dad. And he would definitely not like to find a giant black panther in the middle of his kitchen!"

She felt a finger press against her lips and was grateful for the lack of light. Though, that might not have been necessary. Her face was burning hot under that touch. That might also have been the reason why she heard a small giggle coming from Carm. She couldn't help but huff, although it had been cute coming from her.

"If you keep being this loud with all this passive-aggressive hissing and yelling...I am sure he will come down to find out who is in his kitchen stealing all his cookies." Carmilla turned away and made her way to the tray full of cookies Laura's dad had made. Thank God she didn't eat them, she'd be so dead.

Laura bit her lips and followed suit. Bumping next to the vampire girl, she looked at her as she examined a cookie. After inspecting it enough, Carmilla put the whole thing in her mouth. The tiny blonde couldn't help but giggle as the brunette's cheeks resembled a chipmunk's.

Half the batch of cookies disappeared before they decided to go back to bed.

"I have to give it to your dad, those are great baking skills for a man his size." Carmilla whispered as they entered Laura's room. Laura flashed her a smile as she hoped unto her bed.

"He's a nice man, don't be intimidated by his lumberjack look. Think of him as a beaten up teddy bear who's still the best night companion." Laura giggled at Carmilla's pointed look. "C'mon, that's a gracious way of being described. What would the 18th century describe him as?"

Carmilla pondered for a second."A vast, stoic gentleman whose appearance does not affect his epicure. In addition to having a laudable daughter. " She smirked as Laura processed her words one by one. No wonder people swooned over vampires, that was hot. I think.

Laura gulped and looked down. "That's a way of saying it. I don't think I'm as 'laudable' as you might say I am." She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin there. "I kind of screwed up on some things. But we did it, didn't we?" When she looked up, Carmilla was just next to her bed. In a swift motion, she curled up next to Laura and shook her head.

"You're so...human."

This caught Laura by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Humanity think that to be great and remembered one must sacrifice all of their being to a cause. That to reach a self-satisfaction a great climax must come from actions delivered to said cause. Laura, you saved the entire student body from the university from being eaten. Was that not enough for you?" Carmilla stroked Laura's hand. Her dark eyes dug deep into her.

"So much for a philosophy major, aren't you?" She joked.

"It keeps me at peace, I guess. I also relish in confusing ignorant people who have nothing clever to say to me."

"Am I one of them, then?"

"No, never." Carmilla wouldn't stop looking at her. "So?"

"So what?"

"You don't think you're laudable enough?"

Laura couldn't keep her beating heart at bay. "In 18th century terms, I wouldn't be laudable after what I want you to do."

"I don't agree with that, Hollis."

"Then shut up and prove it".

* * *

**Might come back to this one later on.**


End file.
